Wow so this is a long time coming, but this is Sarah writing about my trip to Morocco in April of 2014. It was a very well planned out trip courtesy of a friend of Demetra and I’s, Karly Sandsmark.
While we were studying abroad in London, we got a 4 week spring break before finals. It’s very different from the U.S. and the purpose for it is to use the time for studying;however, if you’re a student abroad and hungry to explore new places then you probably spent most of the 4 weeks traveling.
Four girls that I knew from CEA planned an elaborate trip to various cities in Spain, Portugal, and Ibiza. I didn’t have set desires of where to go, but I knew that I wanted to go to Spain. Karly and I were enrolled in a Psychoanalysis and Literature class together in London and she told me about the great plans she was making–and I told her I wanted to join.
Karly is very Type-A, that she’ll tell you herself and it makes her a spectacular trip planner. The plan for my leg of the ‘journey’ was that I would fly solo from London to Barcelona, Spain and meet friends Karly, Emily, and Kelsey in Barcelona. Then Kelsey would fly back to London after her spring break in Spain, Portugal, and Ibiza, and Emily, Karly, and I would fly on to Morocco. Once in Morocco we would meet a fourth girl who studied in London, named Alex Tinder.
SO from the beginning. I flew Easyjet from London Gatwick (I believe) Airport. I arrived via tube with my travel backpack. All went well and once arriving in Barcelona I took a taxi to my hostel. This was my first time “traveling alone” even though I was set to meet people. It was the most I traveled alone not because of the flying but I also was staying at a hostel in which I didn’t know anyone for three nights.
The reason why I stayed at the hostel alone was because friend Kelsey was responsible for booking the hostel for the three I was meeting and she accidentally booked it for the month of May. I booked my own room for the proper month, April, and upon finding out that Kelsey and the other girls were unable to stay at the same hostel because of full-booking by the time they realized they booked the wrong month, I just decided to stay at the hostel. SO, I was staying in Barcelona, close to a fountain, but not close to the beach of Park Guell. My friends were staying up the hill by Park Guell.
I arrived at my hostel and immediately checked in, got settled,and connected to wifi so I could contact my friends and make plans. We decided to meet outside of Park Guell and get dinner. It was an interesting commute to find them because I had to take bus and then connect to wifi at Park Guell and meet them.
I’m a very calm traveler I would say so I just went the flow and all worked out well for the most part. In my hostel I met a lot of great people and didn’t have a bad experience at all. I met 3 people from New Zealand, a recent high-school grad from the U.S. who was working as a promoter to make her way through Europe, and a few girls from University of Illinois. I watched Frozen for the first time in Barcelona.
Unfortunately I was not in Barcelona very long and I didn’t research the city in depth so I don’t remember a lot about neighborhoods or the names of restaurants; however, I did pay admission for Park Guell and took a lot of pictures. I got drunk of mojitos and Spanish food in an awesome neighborhood by the park. On the second day there and the day after drinking said mojitos, I fainted on the bus while on my way to meet my friends. It was that time of the month for me and I was probably very dehydrated from alcohol and not enough water, but it all worked out okay in the end.
Sadly we didn’t make it to the beach. We did a lot of great shopping and took a lot of pictures of architecture and just neat buildings and scenery. We drank sangria a lot and even spent some time in Starbucks. While there we found nice light pants and shirts for the upcoming trip to Morocco.
Since it was such awhile ago, I don’t even remember the exact dates I was gone. But with Barcelona and Morocco I was gone a total of nine days, I believe. So besides fainting and not making it to the beach (wtf, I know), Barcelona was a very cool place to visit. We did visit a church besides the Familia Segrada or whatever and it was totally the wrong place, but it was interesting nonetheless and gave us a good exploration outside of the norm for tourists in Barcelona.
Alright so onto Morocco. Like I said Karly is a wonderful planner and planned 100% of our Morocco trip. There were four of us in total in which 3 of us flew together. We flew from Barcelona to Marrakesh and had booked a stay at a riad in Marrakesh, so someone from the riad picked us up at the airport–which was great, and also courtesy of Karly’s great planning.
We were picked up in a car, jeep like, and drove maybe 20-30 minutes from the airport to Marrakesh. There were many people on electric bikes and upon seeing the city walls, which were red, we just soaked in everything that was so new to us all. Our driver dropped us off at the walls to the city and and then another man met us there with a wheelbarrow for our bags. He took us within the walls and led us through a maze of walls and openings until we finally came upon a door. There were many doors and there was no guessing what was behind them unless it was an obvious shop. This door was where were staying for one night in Marrakesh.
There was only one other family there. We got our own room with one bathroom, 4 beds, and awesome lights and blankets and tables. Just very festive stuff. So like I said it was me, Emily, and Karly their. We went out to explore Marrakesh. We shopped for rugs, leather bags, jewelry, clothes, etc. We ate dinner over a square in the city. We heard all the bells for the mosques. It was really neat. We went to bed at whatever time and while we were asleep our fourth person joined us and I’m sure she had an adventure of her own. She flew alone from London to Marrakesh and rode on a motorbike to the city where then someone took her bags as well.
In the morning our riad gave us breakfast which consisted of tea (yum!!), bread, eggs, and fruit. Then we went to a bus station where we had an 11 hour drive ahead of us. We were going from Marrakesh to Merzouga which is right on the Sahara desert. It was of course a long drive and the four of us sat in the front row of the bus and were right by the drivers. I brought three books for all of spring break and I did finish them all, so that was great.
The bus ride was so much fun. We did a lot of sleeping, a lot of talking about our London adventures and other travels. We read and eventually we started laughing and joking around with the two drivers that sat in front of us. We drove up mountains, down mountains, through stretches of land that had nothing but dirt. We drove through towns that looked sort of nice and towns that looked very poor and run down. The toilets gradually went from normal toilets that were used to, to holes in the ground with ridges marking the places for your feet. When we discovered the first squatty toilet, we all practiced our squat and I was actually unable to do it.
We stopped for food and a lot of the food consisted of vegetables, bread, and questionable meat. At one rest area I did get oreos and Coke, so that was cool. At this same place, one of the drivers bought a salad. The four of us were sitting at a table while our whole bus ate lunch and used the restroom. The restaurant owner brought over a salad to me at the table and nodded towards the register where one of our bus drivers stood. He nodded and smiled as I slowly pushed the salad toward the middle of the table and told my friends to dig in.
It was obvious that we were American or maybe some thought Canadian or just European. But besides that I had reddish blonde hair, Karly is very blonde, Emily has red hair, and Alex is fair. We were all thin, taller, and fair people so it was funny and we felt special while in Morocco from the attention but it was obvious they don’t see many fair people.
Anywho, we got to Merzouga very late at night. We stepped off the bus and again were picked up by someone from the riad we were staying at. It was a very nice place to stay. How they decorate is so awesome and they give you so much food and tea. It’s just really great hospitality. Luckily they had one normal toilet and showers, but they also had a lot of beetles. We were now on our 3rd day of being in Morocco and it was time to get on camels and head into the Sahara.
We rode the camels probably for only 4 or so hours and then we reached our camp. It was the four of us girls and a guide. He didn’t talk much at first. We got to the camp and there were a bunch of tents set up with blankets. They had snowboards so we could sand surfing. We sang songs, we met a super hot guy from Switzerland, there were many people there that we could talk to and learn their stories. Sand surfing was awesome. Our guide eventually talked to us and we had a lot of laughs with him.
There were 6 or 8 toilets set up for us at our camp but slowly they started to be covered in beetles so it was hard sit there and relax. The first night there we ate, sand boarded, sang songs, and in the middle of the night we went out away from our camp into the dark desert and looked at stars. It really magically and so peaceful. Yeah it was scary because of all that could be in the desert but really it was just a moment that we felt grateful to be alive and be where we were at that time.
On the second day we stayed at camp for awhile. A guy named Hassan joined our guide and took us around. Oh and I forgot to mention that while in Merzouga Hassan gave us a jeep ride in the dessert. He told us a lot about how he grew up and we saw a lot of dwellings and people who didn’t have homes and just drifted around. We listed to music. It was great. Anyway on that second day in the desert, Hassan let us ride a fourwheeler around. It was super fun and I almost flipped down a hill, but still super fun.
Later that day we went to an oasis and got food and drank water. And I accidentally drank from water meant to be from camels. But all was good… for awhile. That night we stayed in a camp closer to the town of Merzouga. It was just the four of us and our guide and lucky for us we experienced a storm! There’s only about 3 storms a year in the desert, or at least we were told. It was so freaking scary and we were all scared for our lives. Plus the tents were not as great as the first camp we stayed in–equipped with beds, comforters, and pillows. Instead we slept on benches with sandy blankets and were so cold that we all snuggled together. We freaked ourselves out all night with every noise, and the worst was when we all had to pee and decided to run outside and pee behind a little dune. The wind was insane and so much sand blew around us. It was pitch dark and just an all around frightening experience.
The next morning we rode in peace through slightly wet sand back to Merzouga where we must have stayed another day or we just caught the bus back to Marakesh. Once back in Marrakesh we had two full day there. Our riad was nicer than the first and we got a lot of food, two separate bedrooms, and a kick-ass bathroom. We must have got in really late because I remember going to bed right away after showering. I know we shopped because I bought a few pairs of earrings and rings for friends and family. I also bought a cute Moroccan leather purse.
Unfortunately my luckiness of getting sick while traveling struck again. While out shopping in the city, I felt extremely dizzy. I went back to the riad and threw up–had it coming out both ends and ultimately was cooped up for the next two days. I watched TV on someone’s laptop, attempted to eat from this giant loaf of bread and drink water but nothing would keep in my body. At times I just laid on the bathroom floor waiting to barf again. It was really torture. My friends really looked out for me. They bought me those pants that people buy when in Morocco and made sure I drank water slowly so I could at least have chance of keeping it down.
The plane ride back to London was basically hell and we almost thought I would have to go to the hospital. Luckily we made back all in one piece although the repercussions of drinking camel water or just being super dehydrated stayed with me for awhile after I returned to London. I’m happy that it happened in the day. We were able to go to a spa and get massages after I recovered a little. I have amazing memories from being in Barcelona and Morocco. In Barcelona the food and alcohol were the best. In Marrakesh the shopping, entertainment, and henna were the best. Also the compliments being said to you almost constantly.
I had a great week and a half spring break in April of 2014. I made lasting memories with a few great girls. I finally read a Fitzgerald novel that wasn’t Gatsby. I learned to always drink lots of water, not a lot of alcohol, and never water that wasn’t yours to begin with. I learned just so much about a place that is different from where I grew up and went to college. I met wonderful people that spoke so many languages and their minds just worked so different than ours. All in all, it was hands down one of thee best and definitely most memorable trips I had while abroad in London for 6 months.
XX, SARAH
Runaway Blond 